KPop...KDramas...Happiness

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

As any K-Pop fan that's been here for a little while knows Fall is the season for comebacks and if you don't know it's alright because you'll find out. Around this time the debut's and rookie comebacks take a quick stop as the comebacks of stars who's rookie days are long gone and are now at the top of the industry now start preparing for their grand comebacks.The first batch of highly anticipated comebacks have already happened so now it's my job to let you guys know about them. Here's the list of the big fall comebacks thus far, keep an eye out for an update soon with the next batch ;)

"One of a Kind" by G-Dragon

"That XX" by G-Dragon

"Crayon" by G-Dragon

After a three year long wait since his last solo release one of if not THE biggest star in K-Pop and Korean Fashion G-Dragon has made his comeback. For his highly anticipated comeback G-Dragon has released three music video's for three different singles to viewers pleasure. With this comeback GD has for sure proved once again his skills as a rapper, producer, singer, fashionista, and all around K-Pop icon.

"I Don't Need A Man" by Miss A

After a 8 month long hiatus Miss A has returned with a brand new single and music video. Miss A's latest album "Independent Women III" pays homage to the legendary R&B vocal group Destiny's Child and their mega hit "Independent Women" that was featured in the Charlie's Angels soundtrack and even sparked a part 2. Miss A had very big shoes to fill for this comeback and they did a very good job. I'm sure the ladies of Destiny's Child would be very happy!

"Nillili Mambo" by Block B

Block B is still relatively new to the scene but they have already earned themselves a large fan-base with their electronic hip-pop style and sound.Their comeback garnered a lot of excitement with their new catchy song and entertaining music video. Block B have made a succesful comeback and it looks like they've gained a whole new army of fans with this new release!

"Please Don't" by K.Will

K.Will has made a comeback with a new ballad track that is sure to pull at your heart strings. The beautiful song is accompanied by a music video starring Seo In Guk the singer-turned-actor who's career is quickly on the rise. Along with popular girl group SISTAR's gorgeous maknae Dasom who is also currently active as an actress and just so happens to be K.Will's labelmate. His comeback is currently doing well domestically and internationally and has confirmed K.Will's success once again as a popular ballad artist!

"Up" by Epik High ft. Park Bom

After years of waiting K-Pop rap fans can finally rejoice as Epik High has made their long awaited comeback and once again stand on stage as 3 members! Epik High is now under YG Entertainment and their lives have progressed as has their music style but the classic Epik High sick beats and smooth flows are still here and relevant with Epik High's comeback. Their title track Up features Park Bom of 2NE1 and is doing very well on the charts along with the rest of their album, the K-Pop scene welcomes you back with open arms Epik High!!!!

Thursday, August 9, 2012

With the Hallyu Wave growing and expanding more and more, a lot of new fans are coming into K-Pop as fans of the groups at the top of the current Korean industry like Girls Generation, Super Junior, KARA, or 2NE1. A lot of these fans are very big fans of the current industry but are a little bit unaware of K-Pop's origin and past representatives. So in this post I want to show some of the fans who may not know much but are interested in K-Pop's past but don't know where to look. I'd like to show you guys some throwback K-Pop and some of my favorite K-Pop hits from the late 90s and early 2000s.

Shinhwa

The first artist is none other than arguably the biggest group of early K-Pop, the six-member boy group Shinhwa! Shinhwa debuted in 1998 from SM Entertainment (when the company was merely just a small company) and quickly became the boys of every girls dreams with their, handsome looks, remarkable talent, cute and sexy charisma, and catchy songs! Shinhwa is very famous for their unbreakable bond not only as band members but as family and have continued their career as a group to this day for 14 years, becoming the longest running group in K-Pop history. Shinhwa's bond and success is admired by many of their junior artists in the current industry including their company juniors Girls Generation. Now I'd like to show you two of my favorite songs by Shinhwa, enjoy!

"Brand New" by Shinhwa

Wild Eyes - Shinhwa

S.E.S

Next we have arguably the biggest girl group of early K-Pop, the 3 member group S.E.S. SES stands for Sea (Bada in hangul), Eugene (pronounced Yoojin), and Shoo! S.E.S are the original fairies of K-Pop and started and perfected the cute, innocent, and fairly like concept that groups like A Pink and SNSD (in the earlier days of their career) have adopted. S.E.S became every mans dream and every girls envy when they stepped on to the scene in 1997 from SM Entertainment. S.E.S are considered the first highly successful girl group in K-Pop and their late 1999 album "Love" selling over 762,000 copies still holds the tile of "Best Selling Album in Korea by a Girl Group"! Now for some of my favorite songs by the awesome girl group , music start!

I'm Your Girl by S.E.S

Just A Feeling by S.E.S

BoA

Now we have the reigning "Queen of K-Pop" BoA! BoA debuted in 2000 under SM Entertainment at the young age of 14! BoA quickly became popular for her polished and advanced dance moves. BoA conquered multiple concepts from innocent and pure to sexy and charismatic all at a young age. After a few years of a successful career in South Korea, BoA moved onto Japan and became very popular breaking and setting multiple records with some still even unbeatable. BoA is still active as an artist and is now considered the "Queen of K-Pop". Her stage name BoA which is an acronym for "Beat of Angel" is often manipulated to mean "Best of Asia" because of her immense success as an artist in Asia. Now for two of my favorites of BoA's old songs!

Don't Start Now

No.1

Now that I've given you a summary on some of the leading groups and solo artists, I'd like to just focus on music. Here are some throwback K-Pop songs that can show you a quick look into all of the great past music and new K-Pop groups inspiration!

"Now" by Fin.K.L.

"Run To You" by DJ Doc

"Candy" by H.O.T

"10 Minutes" by Lee Hyori (Fin.K.L)

"Twist King" by Turbo

"Oh My Love" by SE.S

"To My Mother" by G.O.D

"Loveable" by Kim Jong Kook

"Leessang Blues" by LEESSANG

"My Name" by BoA

"Woman of the Beach" by COOL

These are just a few throwback songs and I hope you enjoy them!! If you like these songs don't hesitate to look up these artists and see whatever good music they've produced and some other artists to look for.K-Pop wouldn't be as amazing as it is now, if it weren't for these artists and some of them are still active (ie Shinhwa, Leessang, Lee Hyori, Kim Tae Woo (G.O.D), Kim Jong Kook) so check out their recent releases!

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

I've been watching Korean Dramas for 7 years now and Korean Dramas are seriously one I've my favorite pass times. Over the years I have come across a lot of dramas with a lot of awesome actors ﻿and actressess so I want to share a list of my favorites. Of course their are dozens of Korean Actressess but these are the ones that have stood out to me as amazing actressess. When I made the list I took into account how well they played their various roles, appearances and personality! That's how I made this list! Most of these actressess have been in tons of dramas but I'll only be listing the roles I've seen them play!

1. Lee Yoon Ji

The first drama I ever saw Lee Yoon Ji in was the second Korean Drama I had ever watched back in 06. Lee Yoon Ji at the time played a spoiled yet adorable filthy rich brat who fell in love with a employee at her fathers company who just happend to be her brothers forbidden loves best friend. Her character was so mean but so quirky and cute. At the time Yoonji was in her 20s and she had brown long hair. The second drama I saw her in was "Goong"(Princess Hours) which also aired in 06 but I saw much later. Yoonji was apart of the cast for about 8 episodes and her character was AWESOME! The third drama I've seen from her was "Dandelion Family" a 50 episode family drama that just proved to me once again why I think she's AWESOME! The fourth drama I saw from Yoonji was "Dream High" the ultra popular drama where she played a teacher with a strong charisma that masked her charming cute and innocent side. I can't wait to see more roles from my favorite actress "Lee Yoon Ji"!

2. Kim So Eun

The first drama I saw from Kim So Eun just happens to be my favorite drama of all time "Boys Before Flowers". She plays the innocent and sweet high school student "Ga Eul" who is Jan Di's (Ku Hye Sun) best friend and slowly develops a love-line with F4 Member JiYoung (Kim Bum). The seond drama I've from So Eun was "Happiness in the Wind"( A Good Day for the Wind to Blow, check out my review). She scored her first female lead with this drama and she acted wonderfully as a 20 year old illustrator who falls in love with a 30 year old man(Jin Yi Han) with a child and obssessed past lover. The third drama I saw Soeun in was none other than "A Thousand Kisses" where she once again takes the role of a supporting actress. Like all her roles she owns it. So Eun is amazing hence why she made it into this Top 10 list!

3. Yoon Eun Hye

The first drama I watched Yoon Eun Hye in was "Goong" where she was the female lead as a high school student who just found out that she is under a formal agreement to become the new princess of Korea and marry the prince. The second drama I've watched with Yoon Eun Hye was "Take Care of the Young Lady" where she was once again a female lead but this time she plays a rich ,spoiled, fearless 25 year old who falls in love with her butler (Yoon Hyun Sang). The third drama I saw Yoon Eun Hye in was "Lie To Me" where she was a once again the female lead. Yoon Eun Hye has become one of my favorite actressess through her great acting skills, approachable personality and awesome modeling skills. Yoon Eun Hye will always be a princess even if Goong has ended.

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4. Moon Chae Won

The first drama I saw Chae Won in was "Take Care of the Young Lady" where she played a pure and hard working girl in her 20's who was in love with her older best friend who is slowly falling in love with someone else. The second drama I saw her in was "Shining Inheritance" where she was once again a supporting actress and not a lead she was also ina role that didn't really show her acting chops. The third drama I saw Chae Won in was "It's Okay Daddy's Girl" a drama I consider to be in my Top 5 of all time. She scored the role of the female lead and through that role she proved to me how good of an actress she was. That role put her in this list and I can't wait to watch her in something else.

5. Song Ji Hyo

I've only seen Song Ji Hyo in one drama thus far "Goong" (a drama where you can see many of my favorite actressess have starred in). Goong is an awesome drama an Song Ji Hyo does an amazing job at playing the antagonist but 70% of the reason why Ji Hyo made this list is her awesome role on "Running Man". Ji Hyo is awesome and my second favorite member of the Running Man cast. Ji Hyo's role as the gorgeous and tough "Bad Ji Hyo" the smart "Ace Ji Hyo" and the confused and Blank "Mong Ji Hyo" have all placed her on this list and I hope she continues to be those roles while remaining totally gorgeous!

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Only Girl In The World by Rihanna was one of the most popular songs in 2010 and it really influenced dance choreographers all around the world. Let's check out the performers.

Luna (f(x)) & Hyosung (SECRET) performed this song together when they first became MC's of music program "The Show" on MTV! They really do a good job performing this song and I was extremely excited to watch their performance being that they are both my bias in their respective groups. Let's check it out now:

Nicole and Hara of KARA performed this song together as well on Inkigayo to celebrate the 2 members of mega-popular girl group KARA becoming the new MC's of Inkigayo with IU.﻿ Hara being the respective dancers of KARA left it all on the stage and really killed it. let's check out their performance:

Both performances were amazing and since I can't choose who was better I'll let you guys be the judge! Let me know in the comments who really are the Only Girls In The World!

In this edition of Who Sang It Better super popular solo artist IU, R&B vocalist Kim Ji Eun, and Jessica of Girl's Generation will go head to head in this editon of Who Sang It Better with "Almost" by Tamia.

First up is Kim Ji Eun who just so happens to have the same first name as IU (her real name is Lee Ji Eun). She also just so happens to be an amazing vocalist like her same name fellow artist. Kim Ji Eun does the best cover among the three in my opinion but now it's time for you to judge! Check out Kim Ji Eun's redention of Almost:

Now let's check out IU's short cover of this soulful classic by Tamia at a live radio broadcast. IU's voice is very different from Kim Ji Eun's but she still does a great job and she is my second favorite among the 3 covers. Let's listen:

Last we have Jessica of mega-girl group Girls Generation! In my opinion Jessica's cover wasn't very good. Her dress and the performance setup was extravagant and beautiful but I expected much more from her singing ﻿and she didn't deliver. Jessica looked absolutely stunning but her singing should have been as good as the visuals! Let's check out the performance and you can judge for yourself:

All of the covers in their own way were good but I think I'm going to have to crown Kim Ji Eun as the winner of this edition of Who Sang It Better﻿ for obvious reasons. Let me know in the comments who you thought was the best and don't forget to let me know other songs that have been covered by multiple artists!

﻿T-ARA is infamous for releasing tracks with titles that hold no specific meaning. Two of T-ARA's biggest hits both have titles that mean absolutely nothing. Bo Peep Bo Peep T-ARA's first hit track released in 2010 is one of T-ARA's most annoying yet addictive songs. Bo Peep Bo Peep was produced by Shinsadong Tiger and it's a song he admitted he was ashamed to give to T-ARA. Eunjung of T-ARA also admitted to being ashamed of the song at first as well. Luckily the shame was worth it when they won 2 times in a row on Music Bank! Bo Peep Bo Peep may have been the secong worst song of their career thus far but it's also one of their biggest hits and this foolish title was the start of it all!

YaYaYa is the title track of their 2010 album "Absolute﻿". Not only does YaYaYa have one of the stupidest most uneducated titles and concepts out of all of T-ARA's songs but it's also THE WORST song they hav ever released and I was embarrased just to listen to the song and I can only image how embarrassing it must have been to try to confidently perform it! Luckily they appeared to have learned their lesson after not one win on Music Bank or Inkigayo!

Roly Poly is on T-ARA's 2011 summer mini-album "John Trovolta Wannabe" and it is personally oen of my favorite songs by the group. Although the song isn't an amazing production even near the excellence of their songs like "Cry Cry" or "TTL" but it's pretty good. The constant repeating of the title Roly Poly over and over again in the chorus like their songs "Bo Peep Bo Peep" and YaYaYa is the only realy downfall of the song. Although the song lacks a stable ending high note or for that matter even a slight revealign of vocal ability throughout the entire song it's ok since T-ARA are known for not exactly having the best voices or songs in the kpop industry. Although Roly Poly has one of the most meaningless titles ever it is a very succesful song even going on to win Best Music Video of the year at the Melon Music Awards!

Nonsense titles seem to work for T-ARA as it has brung them many wins on Music Programs and Award shows so maybe that's what works for them. All I know is I love T-ARA and as long as they keep releasing music I'll be happy!